Not All North Texas Cities Following Water Restrictions

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – For the next six months, all 13 cities within the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) are now under Stage 3 water restrictions. But not all the cities are complying with the recommendations.

City officials in McKinney and Garland are allowing their residents to water their lawns, with sprinklers, more than once every other week in essence breaking a rule under the Stage 3 restrictions.

“We’re enforcing the once per week, but we’re really encouraging and know that we’re focusing on the ‘only if needed’ and I think a lot of people really aren’t gonna water at all,” said McKinney spokesperson Anna Clark.

The NTMWD only has the authority to make recommendations. Water district spokesperson Denise Hickey said while cities can’t be forced to follow the rules, their water supply can be limited.

“The only enforcement that we would really have is to dial back the knob on how much water is available to each community and then those communities would then have to determine how they allocate the water within their city,” she said.

Back in McKinney, leaders say they’ve been conserving water since 2008 and feel the city has done enough for now.

“I know actually there are several other cities that are doing the same thing [allowing once a week watering] as well and in fact some cities are doing twice per week watering,” said Clark.

But according to KRLD NewsRadio 1080, several other big cities in the district, including Richardson, Allen and Wylie, all show on their city websites that they are following the Stage 3 restrictions.

Officials with the NTMWD said they are trying to cut water use by 10-percent. As it stands, Lake Lavon, the principal water supply for more than a dozen North Texas cities, could be dry by 2012.